Flashback 1988

Well, the Internet job hunt isn't going too well. Oh well. Now for a flashback.

My brother and his friend were sysops of a BBS. Precursor to the Internet and all. You dialed into a personal computer, typed messages, played games, and such. Pretty damn cool.
So it was 1988, and I was 16. Already had a computer alias. Had already emailed people. Played a make-your-own-country-and-attack-other-countries game with the fellow BBSers.
One day my brother said I should dial into his friend John's BBS. So I did.
I logged on.
I began looking through the menus, seeing if there were any cool postings or games.
All of a sudden, the screen changed. I saw letters. Appearing on the screen one by one. I was actually watching someone (or something) type. I'd never seen anything like this before. I started freaking out. What the hell, what the hell, what the hell?
The message read, "Hi Libby."
I'm sitting there thinking, "Holy shit. WTF? Are you there God? It's me, Libby. What the hell are you doing? Sorry to cuss and all, but what the hell?"
I respond with "Hi." Leaving off "God???" like I was tempted to do.
"Who are you?"
"It's John."
"John who?"
"The sysop. Your brother's friend."
My sigh of relief could be heard around the globe.
"Ok...how are you doing this?"
"Pretty cool, huh? Wanna talk live?"
"How?"
"Pick up the phone."
I did. He disconnected me from the computer and started talking to me. Instant messaging, 1988. Way before the time. It was bizarre! Scared the living hell out of me. Very funny. I ended up talking to him a lot. Went on one sorta kinda date. He was 27, and I was seeing someone else. The time I went out with him was the only time I ever had two "dates" in one evening. But I didn't keep up with that kind of despicable behavior. Good for me. :)